Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 458 Flesh Mill ([-])

"They can't hold on any longer." Li Wenchang raised his binoculars to look at it, and then said.Right now, only six artillery pieces are attacking them, and these people have only killed or injured 200 people, and sporadic deserters have already begun to appear, which gave him new confidence in the morale of these Qing army cannon fodder troops. know.

"Vulnerable!" Mo Ming commented succinctly: "Now it's just some village braves with clay legs and auxiliary soldiers, not a backbone force. These village braves may have never left the village in their entire lives, and they have not been killed. Extraordinary, now being bombarded by the cannon is naturally dizzy and dizzy. And then being stimulated by the blood of the dead and wounded comrades around, the survival instinct is triggered. At this time, it doesn't matter what the military order is or not, run first Let’s talk! Hehe, if the Qing army were all like this, they wouldn’t be able to take Yantai Fort in 100 years.”

"I guess it's not far from it. It seems that the Manchus will not be willing to use their precious Eight Banners soldiers to attack the city. If they don't want to retreat without success, some of the green battalion and even the Han Eight Banners will have to go into battle. Hehe, that's fine, let them have a taste of the power of the flesh and blood mill in Yantai Fortress." Li Wenchang smiled, and then put down the binoculars on his chest.

There is nothing to see anymore, more and more people broke up in the Qing army, and the officers gradually couldn't stop shouting, and even some grassroots officers and backbones took the lead in fleeing. This army collapsed shamefully!They even only killed or injured 200 people, accounting for only [-]% of their total number, but they collapsed uncontrollably like this. The mud-legged Xiangyong armed forces that have never seen the world are so unreliable.

The Manchurian Zhenglan Banner cavalry, which had been arrayed in the rear, finally moved at this time. They separated hundreds of cavalry. These Manchu and Qing cavalry wearing cotton armor and wearing lightning rods rode their horses towards the scattered Qing infantry. Rush forward, and then surround the fastest running more than 100 people in the middle, and collect their weapons; at the same time, they also ordered a Qing army infantry from the rear to come forward to contain these scattered Xiangyong rout soldiers.Photographed of the great power of the Manchu army, these townspeople have no intention of resisting at all.

What follows is the cruel scene.The more than 100 Qing troops who were the first to retreat after being surrounded were driven to the front of the formation. Just when they didn't know what happened, a group of Qing infantry archers who had been prepared for a long time quickly stepped forward and shot them down with lightning speed. The shooting was on the spot, which made people dumbfounded.The Qing army who survived by luck was also beheaded one by one by the Zhenglan Banner armored soldiers who stepped forward to make up their swords. Both the enemy and ourselves were in awe on the battlefield for a while, and the strong smell of blood gradually began to permeate.

In this era, the discipline of the Manchu army was strict.And they relied on this kind of strict to severe discipline to defeat more with less, defeating the Ming army that was several times or even dozens of times their number one by one.The retreating warriors who ran a little slower were also a little bit lucky in addition to being shocked. Fortunately, they were a little slower, otherwise they would have died.However, they must also remember today's scene for a long time, and they will definitely think about it when they run away in the future, and this is exactly the purpose of the generals of the Qing army.

After this wave of Qing troops retreated, the Qing army's formation was quiet for half an hour.But soon, the second wave of 1000 people who had been prepared for a long time came forward again.This time they didn't carry ladders, and everyone lined up in a looser formation. They didn't even raise their large shields-in fact, they were useless in front of shells. It seemed to be to reduce the burden so that they could go faster. action.Many people held kerosene, scissors, and big axes in their arms, and it seemed that they were going to destroy the obstacles set up by the people on the east bank first.

The effect of this bombardment was much worse.Especially for those long-barreled cannons, the hit rate has dropped greatly, and the number of casualties caused by each hit shell has also dropped to half of the original.Li Wenchang, who served as the on-site commander, saw that Mo Ming was standing aside and did not speak, so he took the initiative to order the cannons to reduce the firing frequency.He wasn't worried about the damage to the artillery. The lifespan of this type of artillery on the east bank was generally more than [-] rounds, more than ten times that of the red cannons of the Qing army. The main reason why he issued this order was to reduce the consumption of shells and gunpowder.

Gunpowder is nothing. There are nitrate fields and gunpowder configuration workshops on Kongtong Island.Although the output is the same, it is more than enough to supply Yantai and there is still a lot left.But this shell can't be self-produced, at least for the time being, it's better to save some.Of course, this is not to say that the people on the east coast are short of ammunition. The ships transporting immigrants to Australia carried a large amount of supplies on their return journey. In addition to the commodities traded with Japan, the most loaded ones were transshipped from the mainland via New China. Mechanical equipment, parts, and weapons and ammunition.Moreover, the proportion of weapons and ammunition is strictly regulated. At least seven of the 20 ships in the three round trips are loaded with various shells, bullets and weapons, which is enough for the people on the east coast to fight several large-scale battles.However, in the spirit of saving a little bit, it is still necessary to reduce the frequency of shelling with little effect. Who knows what will happen if something unexpected happens next year?This is all uncertain.

The people on the east bank took the initiative to reduce the frequency of shelling, and the crowd of the Qing army was not as dense as the first time. In addition, the advance speed of the Qing army also accelerated a lot, which made them only casualties when they rushed to the filled ditch. Dozens of people.Seeing that the casualties were not too heavy, the leading officer of the Qing army was overjoyed. He yelled loudly and poured a large amount of kerosene on some repelling horses and wooden stakes wrapped with barbed wire, and then covered the tinder jars he brought with him. These kerosene.With a "coax", the flames suddenly rose up, and then turned into a raging fire.

But their luck ended there.At this time, they were even less than 120 meters away from the artillery placed on the city wall by the people on the east bank, and they were only more than 200 meters away from the protruding towers on both sides.This distance was already within the range of grapeshot fired by some artillery, so their fate was destined to be very miserable.

I saw a few thick black smoke rising up, and the two 8-pound howitzers facing them fired discoloring and deadly shells.As soon as the small lead bullets wrapped in thin iron sheets and net bags came out of the gun bore, they shot out in a fan shape, and the Qing army crowd who were destroying the barbed wire immediately fell down like cutting wheat.

The fire oil in the hands of some people who were hit was splashed and overturned on the ground, and it burned quickly after encountering an open flame. Many Qing soldiers were caught off guard and their whole bodies were set on fire.And the kerosene and firewood in their hands became the best fuel, and then a series of terrible fires broke out, and at least dozens of Qing soldiers died in the heart-pounding flames.Of course, before that, many more people had already been knocked down by the intensive grape shells fired by the four artillery pieces. At this time, all the dead and not dead among them fell to the ground, letting the fire burn.As the west wind blew, there was a faint smell of burnt human flesh in the air.

Facing the double blow of the sea of ​​fire and artillery, the Qing army couldn't hold on, and retreated again.Although their attack this time successfully destroyed some obstacles placed in front of the barbed wire fence by the people on the east bank and the wooden stakes wrapped around the barbed wire fence, they also paid the price of 300 casualties, more than a quarter of them. It is beyond their ability to bear.So, of course, they broke up.

After rushing through these two waves, the Qing army had already suffered 500 casualties. Although they were basically brave or surrendered Ming troops, they did a lot of damage to morale after all.Especially after seeing how strong the castle of the people on the east bank was and how fierce the artillery fire was, the morale of the soldiers of the Qing army, especially those who were brave and recruited from the Mingshun army, plummeted. I don't want to fall into the quagmire of the narrow escape.

No matter how impatient the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, Hauge, he had to consider the impact of this aspect.If the gang of mud-legged village warriors under his command were forced to attack by force, some undisciplined troops would blow up the camp on the spot.Although I have [-] elite Manchurian soldiers on hand, I can easily suppress any dissatisfaction or riots of these people, but it is not a good thing after all.Forget it, let's stop here for today, let's wait another day, and wait for the follow-up green battalion soldiers to arrive before making any calculations.

These Green Battalions were mainly composed of the Ming and Shun armies that Duoduo took over in Henan, and a small number of Han Eight Banners officers and soldiers. The number was about 1.They are currently still near Qixia County in Dengzhou, and they will probably not arrive here until tomorrow. The combat effectiveness of these troops is relatively stronger than the current group of troops mainly composed of Zhao Yingyuan's remaining troops, Denglai Xiangyong Armed Forces, and Mingjiang Army.Among the troops here, apart from Li Sutai's Han Eight Banners and Ke Yongsheng's Jiaozhou Town Army, only Dong Xueli's 500 people are a little more decent.

Forget it, just wait another day or two.Just take advantage of this time to build more siege equipment, stabilize the camp, and find a way to fill the swamp to the west of the city.However, this is a large project, and it is unrealistic to fill in all of them, but at least one passage must be filled out, leaving a choice for my Qing soldiers to attack from the west.Since the band of yellow-clothed pirates on the east bank had placed so many cannons in front, maybe the west side would be empty?It's all a matter of chance, who knows if you don't try it?Of course, there is no need to rush this matter. This is not something that can be done in a short while. Take your time and always find a way to pull out the nail in front of you. The state can survive.

After the Qing army's infantry retreated like a tide, they tried to bring back the complete artillery left on the battlefield, but how could the people on the east bank let them do what they wanted?The several cannons on the top of the city immediately slammed towards this side, and a dozen officers and soldiers of the Qing army artillery team and the cannon were all reimbursed, making it a pile of useless parts.

(End of this chapter)